Immutable Meridian
by Adept Starsong
Summary: Unchanging period of greatest splendour. Lily Evans has always disliked James Potter to some extent. However, after his parents' death in seventh-year, events, with the help of Sirius, Remus and Peter, spiral out of control and Lily finds herself in a pre


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DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

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"I think you're reaching here Padfoot," Remus Lupin said dubiously, wondering what his friend was talking about. "Lily might have been less…antagonistic to James this year, but do you really think she'd thaw that quickly?"

Sirius Black slung his leg over his chair, showing off his profile to perfection, as the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room crackled merrily, throwing his face in sharp relief. "Well, it's probably just that Evans doesn't know how to express her love for our Prongsie," Sirius said, under the general noise of the remaining Gryffindors in the Common Room. "Besides, even when she was a prefect and James wasn't, all she ever really did was yell at him…she never put him on detention-"

"That could be because she knew you and James were competing to see how many detentions you could get in Hogwarts," Peter Pettigrew chirruped from his position on the floor. 

Remus nodded, in agreement. "Wormtail has a point Sirius. I mean, Lily being in love with James? I don't know…"

Sirius blew out an exasperated sigh, his hair moving slightly with his breath, thoroughly convinced that emotionally detached to the world as he was, he was right about Lily Evans. Shifting in his seat, Sirius continued, ignoring that either of his friends had ever said anything. "-or did any permanent damage to Prongsie-"

"There was the time she pulled the Bat-Bogey Hex on him…" Peter offered.

"-and really, if you ever bothered to look, you'd realise that she's been eyeing him nearly every lesson!"

"_What_?!" Remus and Peter asked.

Sirius shot them a smug grin, unhooking his leg and leaning towards his friends. "Got you there didn't I? So. Will you help me?"

Remus and Peter exchanged dubious glances before turning away, Peter shaking his head dubiously and Remus running his hand through his sandy hair. "How do you know she looks at him?" Remus asked tiredly. "No, wait, I don't want to know," he interrupted Sirius, just as he was about to open his mouth. The three seventh-year Gryffindors were quiet for a moment, with Sirius quietly pouting, before Remus sighed in resignation. "If they were really meant to be together, they could probably do it themselves right?" Sirius didn't say anything, although his head shot up, like a dog on a scent, waiting for his friend to come to the inevitable conclusion. "Fine. Fine, I won't like it, but I'll do it."

Peter looked between his friends, Sirius' eyes boring into him, and he immediately felt as if he was being quashed by Sirius' sheer force of will. "I guess-" 

Sirius let out his usual bark of laughter and leapt up in delight, nearly squashing Wormtail in the process. "Great! Let's do this then!"

"Now?!"

"Now."

Remus rolled his eyes and the two Gryffindors turned to follow their overly excited friend up the stairs, wondering what they had gotten themselves into.

***

"James Potter is an absolute idiot," stormed Lily Evans, her green eyes flaring with anger, as she marched around the seventh-year girls' dormitories. Her robes and Head Girl badge were in a complete disarray, and tendrils of hair were starting to fall into her face, and as she waved her wand around, several gold and red sparks jumping out from it. "I thought he was alright, but then, of course, he just _had _to show off and-"

"Lily," interrupted Ella Figg, "we know. And that insult was really weak," she added thoughtfully, ignoring the vicious glare her friend was shooting her. 

"Oh, well this is great," Lily muttered angrily, flopping over on her bed, her wand thrown to one side. "Just great. I need moral support, and all my best friend can say is that my insults are weak. This is just brilliant."

"Lily, honey," Ella said placatingly, "I didn't mean it like that. It's just…" she flailed around for a moment, looking at the other three Gryffindors for support, searching for the right word, and not succeeding. 

"What she means was, maybe what James did wasn't such a big deal. It's not like he was hexing Snape when he was defenceless, and Snape's no Squid, not like Ella's Aunt…" Shantelle Ryburn offered, referring to Ella's Squib aunt Arabella Figg, who she had been named after. 

"Oh right," Lily replied sarcastically, pushing herself into standing position and walking towards her trunk. "So I'm meant to just stand by and watch the Head Boy hex Snape, just because Snape isn't a defenceless Squib and it wasn't like what happened in fifth-year, is that what you're saying?" Her voice came out slightly muffled as she changed her clothes, pulling on a Muggle pair of jeans and t-shirt, which read, "Fallen Angelz."

"Well, no," Ella said, watching Lily transfer her Head Girl badge from her robes to her t-shirt. "It's just that maybe it wasn't James' fault…I mean even _you _said it…he's changed since fifth-year Lil."

Lily looked at herself in the mirror, which suddenly said, "Brush your hair!" The girls jumped at the interruption, before exchanging grins, the tension that had been building was gone in a flash. 

Although Lily didn't really want to admit it, not even to herself, there was the remote possibility that maybe James Potter's head had shrunk since fifth-year. This could have partially have been because his parents had been killed in an attack by Voldemort, but either way, he seemed to have calmed down slightly and stopped hexing everyone in sight. While Lily had been sympathetic about his parent's demise, she hadn't commented on it, or his wan look, haunted eyes or deep bags. She had simply done her job as Head Girl, wordlessly done his when he didn't complete his share, leaving him to his own devices, and kept a quiet eye on him. 

The first prank he pulled after his parents death caused the whole school to sigh with relief, (even if no one could prove that it was him) since it meant that he was alright again. Lily knew better though, the shadows around his eyes had never really left, and he was less brash and more focused. She never said anything, but she liked this new and improved James Potter, she only wished that his parents hadn't needed to die before it had happened.

"Lily?" Ella's quiet voice broke through Lily's thoughts, and the Head Girl gave her head a quick shake, mentally berating herself for thinking about James Potter. 

"I'm fine," Lily replied, reaching across her rumpled bed to grab her school bag and wand. 

"Yeah? Not thinking about-"

"No." Lily turned quickly, walked out of the door, missing the girls' quiet smirks and exchanged glances as Lily's face flushed at her quick answer. 

Obviously, someone was in love.

***

James Potter let his mind drift off as he listened to Professor McGonagall's usual rant about House honour and the school rules. Beside him stood Severus Snape, and when James shot a quick look at Snape, he couldn't resist a painful smirk of delight. 

Large, burning boils were all over the slimy Slytherin's skin, and large quantities of oily hair were erupting from his nostrils and ears. James himself had come off fairly well in the duel although he was not unscathed – a large bloody slash ran all the way down his right arm, and Lily Evans had Stunned him and dragged him to McGonagall's. 

Although he knew that Madam Pomfrey, the young nurse, could heal the arm wound with a quick spell, he doubted that McGonagall would be sympathetic to his predicament. Since James was a right-hander and was not ambidextrous by any long-shot, things would be a bit difficult for a little while, although he thought with satisfaction, the damage done to Snape was definitely more long term. Lily's intense displeasure would be slightly more difficult to remedy than the arm problem despite the time it would take for it to heal without magic, but James was sure that in time he would regain her trust. Or so he hoped, considering she was the one female in the whole of Hogwarts that he actually wanted; since third-year in fact, when he realised that females, were not, funnily enough, like males. 

"Potter!" McGonagall said sharply, piercing through James' thoughts. "Potter, are you listening?"

"Er…" James could literally _hear _Snape's smirk, and although he hadn't heard a word his Head of House had said, he was sure that he could repeat it back to her, word for word, since this was not the first time McGonagall had told him off for duelling in the corridors. "Yeah," James said, biting back a grin as he heard a vicious mutter from his left. "Yeah, you said-"

Professor McGonagall sighed, and closed her eyes. "I know what I said Potter, but you obviously do not."

"Er…how about a quick summary?" 

Professor McGonagall pinched the bridge of her nose and let loose a mutter which sounded suspiciously like, "Why me?" Raising her voice slightly, McGonagall said resignedly, "A hundred points from each House and a month's detention with Mr. Filch."

Despite the pain from his wound and Lily's anger, James gave a painful grin. He was now winning the detention stakes against Sirius, six hundred and ten detentions to six hundred and eight.

***

Sirius strode towards James' trunk, and flung it open, ignoring the various odds and ends that came flying out, hitting Peter in various parts of the anatomy, and eliciting yelps from him. Finally, after most of his best friend's belongings were scattered around the seventh-year dormitories and Peter had retreated next to Remus, Sirius turned towards his friends, who were watching from the doorway, a victorious grin on his face, and the Marauders Map in his hand. 

"Okay," Sirius said, wading through the debris, "I think that-"

"Sirius," Remus interrupted, "are you going to put James' things back?"

"No, why should –"

"You really should you know."

"Well what I'm doing is for him, and if it takes a little-"

"Yes, but won't he suspect something?"

"Remus-" Sirius said, his grin fading and an expression of irritation replacing it, "-can I just finish-"

"Destroying your best friend's belongings?" Obviously, Remus was enjoying himself supremely, since he wasn't exactly feeling like the most generous person living, considering how dangerous most of Sirius' plans turned out to be. While Remus loved his friend, sometimes, he could be a bit too much.

"No," Sirius growled out, "I was just going to say could I please finish my bloody sentence without you butting in every second?" Remus shrugged, walking to join Sirius, who had laid out the Map on his bed, and a few seconds later, Peter came to join them after he was sure that no flying missiles would hit him. When Sirius was finally satisfied that Remus would listen without interruption, he tapped the Map, and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Immediately, a map of Hogwarts appeared with everyone's location. Quickly scanning it, the three boys noted that the red note labelled "Lily" was running down the Gryffindor girls' staircase and James was in McGonagall's office.

"Right," said Sirius, keeping half an eye on the Map. "So, what do you think is the best way to get James together with Lily. Figuratively of course," grinned Sirius.

"_What?!" _Remus shot Sirius an incredulous look, and Peter let out a squeak, which he tried to cover by turning into a cough and minimally succeeding. "So what you're saying is that I agreed to go along with one of your planless plans?"

"Er…yeah," Sirius said, casually, following the dot labelled "James" that was heading towards Gryffindor Tower. "Why not?"

Remus suppressed a groan, remembering, despite his erratic genius, how Sirius' last planless plan had gone, which had somehow resulted in Snape talking backwards for the rest of the day.

***

Lily sprinted down the stairs and into the now-empty Common Room, trying to shake loose her somewhat less-than-appropriate thoughts about James Potter, most of them which involved him being literally together with her. Her face flamed at the thought of _that _ever happening, considering how she'd recently Stunned and screamed at him, she doubted he would be feeling kindly towards her, although, with the new-and-improved James, it was a bit hard to tell. 

Sliding into a seat by the fire, Lily opened her copy of _Hogwarts, A History, _and let her thoughts drift. To James. Lily let out a groan, suppressing the urge to throw her book into the flames, feeling quite resentful towards her thoughts. While James had stopped being 'Potter' since the pair had become co-Heads, old habits died hard, although to Lily's horror, calling him 'James' was no longer a chore, but something she enjoyed – to her, his name was like a pure musical note that was crystal clear. The problem was, James was neither pure nor clear, and even if Lily occasionally regressed to calling him 'Potter,' it was only when he had done something truly irritating like duel with Snape, and Lily realised, to her utter despair, even the _surname _'Potter' had managed to become a harmonious mini-symphony to her over the years. 

At least, Lily thought gloomily, turning the page moodily, he doesn't smirk about it anymore. 

"Er…you realise that you're reading that upside-down don't you?" smirked James, jolting Lily out of her thoughts, and abruptly reminding her that although he had changed, his smirk would always be the same. He was right though, Lily realised, she _was _trying to read _Hogwarts, A History _upside-down. Her natural reaction, of course, was to become defensive. 

"I'm…trying out something," Lily said, trying to keep the irritation from her voice, as her brain noted the way his hair stuck up, how his hazel eyes twinkled in amusement despite the smirk, which was actually _very _appealing, the dishevelled state of his robe and the huge gash up his arm that was…_dripping puddles of blood onto the floor?!_

Lily leapt up, her book tumbling into a small quantity of James Potter's blood, her concern of anybody leaving blood trails everywhere overcoming the desire to dislike James. "What happened?" Lily asked briskly, before realising that it was a stupid question – he had obviously got it from the duel with Snape, and she hadn't noticed whilst dragging him to McGonagall. "Never mind," she said, as he opened his mouth. James' face twisted into a sardonic grin as Lily grabbed his arm just above the gash. "Why didn't you go to Madam Pomfrey?" Lily demanded, prodding James with her wand, and ignoring his quiet manly grunts. "She's only too ready to prove yourself, and you know it!" 

"And that's the problem," muttered James through gritted teeth. "Besides, McGonagall doesn't let her take care of this stuff anymore, I've been in way too many duels and she does this to…discourage us."

"Well, obviously its not having much effect on you is it?" Lily replied, reaching behind her and pulling out her wand from her back pocket of her 

"Not real-" James interrupted himself with a sharp yelp of pain, as Lily tapped her wand firmly against the wound, which began to knit itself up instantly. Pain as James had never felt soared through him, and if it had been anyone but Lily, James probably would have given into his deep desire to fall unconscious just then. 

When the pain finally ground to a halt, James looked down at his arm, which was fully healed, if slightly numb. "Er…" he gasped out awkwardly, not knowing exactly how to thank someone who so obviously disliked him as much as he liked her. The tension in the room became palpable as the silence stretched on, and finally, James looked up from his arm, and right at Lily. James felt a very rare blush heat his cheeks when he met her intense gaze, and he realised that she had changed in their seven years of acquaintance…and definitely for the better. Before James' physical reaction to how he felt about her could become clear, he broke away from Lily, clearing his throat, and looking at anywhere but her. "Thanks…thanks for…you know," James said, indicating at his arm, as he backed away from her and up the boys' dormitories. 

"James…" Lily's voice caught, a strange sensation that was very unfamiliar fluttering through her stomach, much like when she was about to sit an exam. She had the vaguest feeling that she was failing terribly, by James' horrified and pained expression, his hazel eyes darting around like a trapped animal's. In fact, Lily had never seem him nervous or flustered, although, a traitorous voice at the back of her mind told her that she thought he looked even more appealing than ever. "I-"

"Really need to go." 

James' over-loud words had shattered whatever spell had held the two of them together, and Lily felt the world rushing back in place. She did _not _like James like that; he was _not _an exam she had to pass…

"Right," Lily said, ignoring the unsteadiness in her voice, and hating it. "Right. I'll see you round."

"Yeah…good night," James said, practically running up the stairs. Lily stared after him, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. 

No matter how much Lily told herself that it hadn't been a test…she still felt as if she had failed something somehow. 

***

James burst into the seventh year boys' dormitories, literally falling in through the door, giving time for Sirius, Peter and Remus to quickly wipe the Marauder's Map and throw it next to James' lucky boxers which was still on the floor from Sirius' ransacking of his belongings. When James regained his balance, he looked over at his friends, who were sitting on Sirius' bed, innocent looks pasted on all their features.

"Prongsie!" Sirius exclaimed enthusiastically, bouncing off his bed and next to James. "Where were you? We were about to get out the Marauder's Map and see where you'd gone…or did you not _want _to be found?" he asked slyly, slinging an arm around his best friend. 

"Well, now that you mention it…" James muttered, surveying the room. 

"Aw, don't be a spoilsport," Sirius said, shooting a panicked look at Remus and Peter. "We were just…just…"

"We were just trying to see if the house elves had put Sirius' boxers in your trunk by accident," Peter said helpfully.

James gave his friends a baffled look, knowing that he should have chosen to have a separate room from his friends, a perk that came with being Head Boy. Shaking his head, he wondered if it was too late to take Dumbledore up on the offer, before realising that if he did do that, he'd be seeing a lot less of Lily Evans, who, as far as he knew, still lived in the seventh-year girls' dormitories. 

Shrugging off Sirius' arm, James flopped onto his bed, throwing his socks that showed fluttering snitches across the room, both pairs hitting Peter, who hadn't ducked in time. "I really don't want to know," James said.

The three other Marauders exchanged surprised glances; usually James was an organised sort of person, since it took organisation to do pranks, this reaction was not what they were expecting. In fact, Sirius thought, narrowing his eyes suspiciously, and walking over towards his friend and plonking himself uninvited at the foot of James' bed, it was a lot like how he had acted when his parents had died. 

"What's wrong James?" Sirius asked without bothering to beat around in the bush. "You look as if a party of Manticores who'd stopped killing each other long enough to look at you had trampled on you."

James gave a nonchalant shrug, which only goaded the other three to more drastic action. "You know, James, we are here for you," Peter said quietly, looking worried that his idol was acting like the undead. 

"Yeah."

"And that we'll do whatever it takes to gouge out what we want to know from you," added Sirius helpfully, in a light tone which belied his worry. 

"Well, not gouge…" Remus said delicately, joining his friends on James' bed. "More like…pry."

"Uh-huh," was the only responsive reply from their friend. After several minutes of calm coaxing Sirius finally lost his patience, and a string of colourful swearwords mixed with hexes came out of his mouth. 

"Sirius," Remus said warningly, glancing down quickly at James and them back at Sirius again. 

"No!" exclaimed Sirius stormily. Twisting around to glare at James, Sirius ground out, "I love you like a brother James, so would you just spit it out already? I hate this…this…"

"Waiting?" Peter suggested helpfully from the foot of the bed.

"Yes!" Sirius exclaimed. "I hate this…waiting?" 

"Sirius," Remus said, rolling his eyes. "You're missing the whole point."

"What? Oh…er…right," Sirius said, blushingly, sitting back down on James' bed, the owner still fairly unresponsive. "Look, Prongs, why don't you nod or shake your head when we ask you something? A nod's no by the way," Sirius said dryly, at James' numb shake of the head. "Alright then…" Sirius continued; ignoring Remus and Peter's slightly exasperated expressions. "Is what happened to do with your arm?" 

James gave a shake of his head.

"Great," muttered Sirius to the other two, "we're getting somewhere. Your turn Remus."

"What?"

"Your question. I know you're just dying to find out what James was up to." Remus ran a hand through his hair, frowning, but Sirius interrupted before his friend could open his mouth. "You're doing him a favour," Sirius said, his tone wheedling. 

Remus sighed, and asked, "Is it to do with Snape?"

James nodded. 

Sirius nodded at Peter, his turn. For a moment, Peter silently considered what he would ask, before he remembered that he'd seen James with Lily on the Marauder's Map moments before. "It's about Lily isn't it?"

James shook his head.

It took a moment to sink in, before the other three Marauders grinned at one another, finally realising what James' expression was about. James didn't need any help from them in getting him and Lily together.

From his expression, the pair of them were already halfway there.

***

It was two weeks after James' duel with Snape, and Lily, to her utter chagrin hadn't managed to get James out of her system after all, and she was getting more and more irritated about it by the second. It had gotten to the point where all her friends had begun commenting on her preoccupation and bad mood, and even James seemed to be eyeing her peculiarly, especially throughout the Prefects' Meeting. 

"Is that all?" James asked, running a hand through his hair. His fellow Prefects nodded in affirmation, the girls giving him moony expressions and the Slytherins nodding, or in the case of Severus Snape, glaring at him. Lily herself was trying her utmost to restrain the impulse to leap at sixth-year Hufflepuff Auberjinne Eslant, who was eyeing James with a particular predatory interest, and was at the moment, on the receiving end of one of James' devastatingly boyish grins. 

"Alright then, let's break, meeting here next week!" James called over the noise of scraping chairs and general chatter. By then, Lily had already made it to the door, ignoring any peculiar stares directed at her, since she was, characteristically, the last to leave Prefect meetings, ensuring that everything was in order. Leaving early was, Lily decided, as she slammed the door shut on the accusing eyes, much preferable to watching James Potter being eyed up by some brainless Hufflepuff though. While Lily knew at the back of her mind that she was being totally unfair to the kind-hearted Hufflepuffs, she really didn't care at present. 

With this in mind, Lily stormed up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower, and it wasn't until it was too late that she realised that she had walked right into one of Peeves the poltergeist's pranks. Cold, slimy frogs' guts rained down on her, running down into her robes and from the way he was cackling, onto her bag and books inside. 

Lily let out a string of hexes, reaching for her wand, which was in the folds of her robes. Before she could disentangle her hand from her robes though, Peeves had already zoomed out of sight, still cackling merrily, and singing "Amazing Grace," out of tune at the top of his voice. After several moments of indignant swearing and wand waving, Lily managed to calm down long enough, only to find James Potter looking up at her, an amused smile in place. 

"Alright there Lily?" he asked, walking up to Lily, who glared at him.

"Oh yeah, life is just bloody great right now Potter," she replied, ignoring the way his name seemed to flow off her tongue. "I've been splattered by frog guts, and caught by you of all people, while I'm in the middle of listing my to-do tasks."

"Killing Peeves?" James asked mildly.

"Yeah, and then possibly you."

James winced, trying not to let Lily see the hurt she had caused by her comment, and when the silence stretched on for too long, Lily realised that she'd been standing on the stairs, covered in frog guts and talking to _James Potter. _ True, her wand _was_ pointing at him but… Spinning around, Lily started to walk up the stairs again, ignoring the fact that she was being less than polite.

"Hey, Evans!" James called, finally regaining the use of his vocal chords. "What'd I ever do to you that would make you want to kill me?"

"Sod off," Lily growled, quickening her pace.

James, seemingly unperturbed, kept up easily with Lily. "Aw, c'mon, you can tell me what's wrong can't you?" 

"Isn't Jinne looking for you?" Lily asked acidly.

"Er…" James looked at Lily, puzzled, before bursting out laughing. "You're jealous aren't you?" James asked, feeling victorious. 

Lily felt her face reddening, stopping and pivoting around to face him. "Do you, by any chance remember what I said to you in fifth-year?"

"Lily-"

"Do you?"

James sighed, and reached out for her, his hand catching hers unawares, and pulling her closer, frog guts and all. "Of course I do," James murmured into her ear. "But I doubt that the Giant Squid could do this…"

Lily glared into his hazel eyes, trying to remember why she'd been so annoyed with him. Closing her eyes an attempt to clear her suddenly hazy mind, Lily felt a shock go through her when she felt James warm lips touch hers, pressing lightly against her own. 

Lily's lips parted slightly in response, tilting up slightly to let James get better access. Immediately, James' tongue gently nudged gently at her lips, and against her better judgement, Lily opened her mouth enough to let James' tongue slide in, caressing the cave of her mouth…making her moan in ecstasy…

Slowly, James moved down her neck, and Lily let out a groan of frustration, her arms clinging to him, running her fingers through his surprisingly soft hair…

A loud squeak broke through Lily's thoughts and the spell that had captivated her instantly, and pulling herself out of James' embrace, Lily looked down to avoid James' own intense gaze, only to see…

"WORMTAIL!" James bellowed, releasing Lily so abruptly that she nearly fell. 

"Wha…" Lily gasped out, still flushed from kissing James. James looked back up at Lily, his own face flushed, his messy hair wilder than ever. 

"Oh…I…er…my…my pet rat," James said. For a prankster, he was a pretty hopeless liar when it came to certain people, and Lily, who was, at any given time, a very up-to-date sort of person, knew that James had no rat, and that he was, without a doubt, lying.

"You don't have a rat," Lily said, fully aware that she was still a mess of frog guts.

"I…don't?" James gave her an angelic smile, and Lily ignored it using all of her willpower. 

"No. You don't. What game are you playing here Potter?"

"Er…"

"Well that's just great isn't it? Why don't you get back to me with the answer when you find it?" Lily said stonily. 

"Lil, I-"

But James was already talking to Lily's back. Glaring down at his friend again, James declared, "I am going to _kill _Sirius!"

***

"I love you like a brother Padfoot, but what, exactly possessed you to get Wormtail here to turn into a _rat _and spy on us?! No offence Wormtail," James added as an afterthought. 

The four Marauders were in the seventh years' dormitories, and James was acting like he had lost his only love, which, Remus considered, was partially true. This still didn't quite warrant a half-hour non-stop rant though, at least not in Remus' eyes, although Sirius, who was the main target of James' tirade, seemed to be holding up pretty well. Remus truly doubted that Sirius was actually listening though, from the expression on his face. Apparently, he wasn't the only one who was noticing. 

"SIRIUS!" James bellowed out, causing the other three Marauders to jump slightly. They'd never seen James in such a rage, even after Sirius' Prank on Snape during sixth-year, when he'd led Snape to the Whomping Willow on the night of a full moon. "ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?!" 

"Er…no?" Peter let out a mix between a whimper and a sigh at Sirius' answer, and Remus could totally sympathise. What exactly had the pair of them done to deserve such a friend as Sirius? 

Before James could blow a fuse though, Sirius continued, "It wasn't really our fault Prongs, you didn't actually _have _to pounce on Wormtail. If you hadn't, Lily never would've guessed."

James stared speechlessly at his best friend for a moment. "You were there too?"

"We all were," Peter said quietly, obviously glad his friend wasn't yelling anymore.

"Oh, great. Don't you guys have anything better to do than follow me around and record my private moments?" 

"Well, now that you mention it-"

"Forget it," James muttered, flopping onto Sirius' bed face down. "It's over anyway."

"You've done worse before James," Remus pointed out logically.

"Not that I can particularly remember right now," James said, his voice slightly muffled by the pillow. 

"There was the time you snogged her stupid on Valentine's Day during fourth-year and she landed you five days in the Hospital Wing," Peter pointed out.

"And the time where you charmed these little pink bubbles in the shape of hearts that followed her around all day singing 'I lurve you Lily Evans…'" Sirius said, ticking it off on his fingers. "I think she got back at you for that by cursing you so that you spoke in sonnets all day."

"Of course," Peter continued, "there was fifth-year where she told you that you were as bad as Snape and-"

"Fine," James said, sitting up and throwing the pillow into Sirius' grinning face. "I get it. I've messed up before. But-"

"This isn't different," Sirius said, throwing the pillow over his shoulder. "And you're acting like your favourite dog died, which by the way should be me, and you've been so wrapped up in Lily that you haven't done anything else in days…including pranking Snape and getting back at him for that duel."

James shrugged, falling listlessly back onto the bed. 

"You haven't been doing very well in Quidditch either," Peter said, his only answer being an irritated flip of James' hand.

"And you're failing Transfiguration," Remus continued, mock-innocently. 

"What?!" This made James sit up abruptly. "Great, so I'm a failure too. Glad Mum and Dad aren't here to see it."

"James, you're digging a molehill out of an anthill," Sirius pointed out. "And Moony's lying, you're still acing Transfiguration, you're tied in first place with me and Lily."

James let out another tragic groan at Lily's name, and Sirius sighed. Whether James was a lady's man or not, he still had some serious learning to do in the love department. Until then, it seemed that it was up to Sirius to see that there was a relationship between Lily and James…

***

Lily looked at herself in the mirror, her freshly scrubbed face looking back at her. 

"Er…Lily-"

"What?" Lily asked absently, still surveying herself in the mirror for any signs that she had mysteriously changed when James Potter had been giving her a mind-blowing snog. 

"Why do you have a love bite on the side of your neck?" Bella asked cautiously.

Lily turned around to find the rest of the Gryffindor seventh-year girls looking back at her, sly smiles on their faces. "What have _you _been up to during those Prefect Meetings Lil?" Shantelle asked, adding whole new meanings to innocent words. Sometimes, Lily thought inappropriately, she had to wonder why she and 'Telle were friends. 

"Lily?" Shantelle asked, exchanging worried looks with the other girls when the silence stretched on for too long. "Are you alright?"

Her hand on the love bite that James had left, Lily suddenly felt herself snap back into reality. "Uh…yeah. I'm fine," she said, sounding anything but fine. Giving herself a mental shake, Lily turned away from the mirror, and gave her friends a wan smile, her mind back to wallowing in James-thoughts. "Y'know what? I think I need to go check on something…be back soon…" With that, she drifted out of the room, the memory of his lips on hers…before realising that he was a lying, sneaky, conniving _creep. _Who happened to be extremely hot. 

Walking down the stairs to the Gryffindor Common Room, and ignoring all of her fellow Housemates' stares, Lily felt as she had been flung into an alternate universe, where the only thing she knew was that whatever James Potter had done to irritate her, it didn't matter anymore. 

And that went totally against her natural instinct. 

***

Remus sighed; feeling very much like it was the day before the full moon. "Sirius-"

"That's my name! Well, actually it's Sirius Black but-"

"Do you really think this is a good idea?" Peter interrupted nervously, looking at Lily, who looked very bronze and goddess-like in the firelight. "I mean, Prongs could already kill us already, and although I can take dying quickly once, I don't think I'd want to go through it a second time."

"Don't worry," Sirius lied. "I have a plan this time."

"That's great. Because not all your plans always work," Remus hissed back at his friend, muttering under his breath, "And I wish you would quit asking us to not worry." 

"Yeah, well…it'll be fine."

"James is still going to kill you."

"Well either way he's going to kill us-"

"Just you actually," Peter interrupted.

"-so it really shouldn't matter!" Sirius concluded, ignoring Wormtail's interruption. Standing up from his hiding place, he strode over to Lily's chair, ignoring all the other Gryffindors; casting a shadow over her and making her look up.

"Lily dearest, hello," Sirius said, grinning in the most charming manner possible. "How are you?"

Lily stared at him for a split second, before mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like "If someone asks me that again, I'll give him one."

"Give him one what?" Sirius asked playfully, leaning towards her. Lily didn't flinch, instead, she glared Sirius right back in the eye, green eyes unwavering, until Sirius backed away, his smile fading slightly. "Lily," Sirius sighed out, sliding into the seat next to her when he realised that being macho wasn't going to work, "what would you do if I told you that James is head-over-heels-I-can't-do-anything-not-even-prank-or-play-Quidditch in love with you?"

Lily stared blankly at him, her green eyes unseeing for a moment, before she answered in a very unconvincing tone. "I really don't care and have no idea why you're telling me this."

"Right," Sirius said sarcastically, his handsome face contorting. "If you don't care then I'm the Minister for Magic. And honestly, I don't think you could stand that."

Lily gave him a wan smile. "I don't think _anyone _could stand that," Lily replied softly, her mind obviously drifting far, far away, her expression similar to James' was when he was thinking about Lily. 

Sirius let her contemplate his best friend for a moment, before breaking in on her thoughts, ignoring the curious glances several Gryffindors were sending their way, since everyone knew that Sirius, player that he occasionally was, would never move onto someone his best friend so obviously liked. "Exactly. So does this mean you can stop being a prat and just admit that you like him already?" Sirius asked tactfully. 

Lily seemed to snap abruptly from her dreamy thoughts, her Head-Girl expression in place. "I am _not_ a prat Black," Lily said coldly, uncoiling from her seated position to stand over him. "For someone who's so smart, you can be pretty damn stupid," Lily continued, her voice getting icier and icier. 

"Well," Sirius said, titling his head slightly to look up at her, "this sort of confirms it, doesn't it?"

"What?" Lily looked at Sirius uncertainly, caught off balance.

"When you're annoyed with James, you yell and scream, and occasionally hex. Which reminds me, that was one hell of a hex you shot him last year…" Sirius cleared his throat, continuing quickly at Lily's glare. "Anyway, when you're annoyed with anyone else, you turn into a human ice-berg. Not that it's a bad thing," Sirius added, when Lily opened her mouth to protest. From the expression on her face though, Sirius had no doubt that Lily couldn't have moved even if she had wanted to, which was, he concluded, very much right now. "But…maybe you do that because you _don't want _to be attracted to him, but you are. It's totally understandable though, James does sort of get intense about that sort of thing, he's the type of person that you love for life…"

Lily felt pole-axed, before denial ripped through her. "There is no _way _that I can like James Potter," Lily hissed at Sirius, who looked right back at her with a perfectly blank expression on his features. "He probably sent you to do this, didn't he?" Lily asked. "Well tell him that he can go burn in hell for all I care."

Sirius reached up and grabbed Lily arm, as she turned to storm away from him, his expression hardening. "I've been pretty patient with you so far Lily," Sirius said quietly, standing uncomfortably close to her, his grip on her arm tightening slightly in frustration. "Especially when you're fooling around with my best friend's heart. James would do anything for you, and you _know _he's changed since third-year. Why do you think I'm here talking to you? I'm no good at this sort of stuff but when James is lying in his bed acting as if his parents had died _again…" _Sirius paused, trying to gauge Lily's strange expression. "_Why can't you quit being so stubborn and just admit you like him?!"_ Sirius finally hissed out venomously. 

Lily grimaced as Sirius' grip tightened once more on her arm, feeling a sick horror forming in the pit of her stomach. There was no doubt in Lily's mind that Sirius was telling the truth, but the idea that she had that much power over the almighty James Potter was slightly disconcerting. But then again, he had the ability to send her spiralling into the pits of depression too…

"Well?" Sirius asked impatiently. His voice was pitched a bit too loudly, and surprised Gryffindors turned towards them, but at an angry wave of his hand, they promptly turned away, although Lily was sure they were now eavesdropping like mad. They probably looked like they were in a lovers' spat, which Lily supposed, was partially true since their topic of discussion, or rather _Sirius' _topic of discussion, was James. 

"I…I don't know…" Lily faltered, feeling very caught off-balance at the thoughts that were racing through her mind. Cursing inwardly at her lack of control, Lily fiercely shook off Sirius' hand, enjoying the feel of blood rushing down to her hand once more. Before Lily could open her mouth to continue and reassert herself, Sirius had already begun to speak.

"Well since _you _don't know, I'll tell you," Sirius said his voice still low. "You are going to meet James just outside the Forbidden Forest tonight, and you will both want to shag each other stupid by the time you get back to Gryffindor Tower."

Lily took one look at the daring expression on Sirius' and felt her resolve harden. "Fine. Tell him I'll be there."

***

Lily loitered at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, attempting to look innocent, which was, after years of living and outsmarting Petunia, somewhat easy, although excitement bubbled beneath the surface. Excitement, Lily was trying hard to tell herself, that she didn't want. Her success rate was approximately in the negatives though, and finally, Lily let herself go, letting herself think of why James Potter was the one for her and slowly realising that all the reasons why she shouldn't like him weren't really true anymore. Not after he had learned his parents had died anyway. 

The person that she had once known had gone and besides the occasional lapses, James was, on the whole, a loyal caring person. In fact, Lily supposed, he had probably always been caring and loyal, she had just refused to see that side of him, and it hadn't been until she had been made co-Head Prefect with him that she noticed that he wasn't just "Potter," and that his intense focus had been put to use. 

"Maybe Sirius is right," Lily said out loud, her features screwed up as she tried to analyse her feelings in an abstract way. "Maybe I am scared…"

"Who's that you're talking about?" 

Lily jumped when James materialised before her, his glasses glittering in the lights from the castle slightly. 

"No one," Lily said quickly, her heart beginning to race. From where she was standing, she couldn't be sure, but his clothing more dishevelled than usual, and his expression uncharacteristically hopeful. James moved closer, his movements graceful, probably from playing Quidditch, Lily supposed. 

"Right." James sounded doubtful, but he didn't press it. He continued to move forward, until Lily was backed up against a tree and her green eyes were staring up helplessly at him. His arms gently wrapped around her, enclosing her in warmth. "So," he continued quietly, his breath warm in her ear, "what is it that you wanted?"

Words didn't really seem all that appropriate, and in any case, Lily wasn't really able to articulate anything. "Hmmm…" James murmured, as Lily's hand began to gently stroke his hair. "That feels nice."

Lily felt herself suddenly snap back at his words, her practical-self wondering if she had finally gone criminally, which was perfectly normal considering she was in the Forbidden Forest getting it on with James Potter. Detaching herself somewhat reluctantly from James, Lily looked at him, his expression now poker-face blank. 

"Actually," Lily said breathlessly, "I was sort of wondering what _you _wanted."

James stared at her in surprise. "I know it sounds cheesy but…I want you. Literally and figuratively. I've wanted you since third-year. Merlin," James muttered, looking downwards, "I've freaking _loved _you since third-year." 

Lily leaned against James' cheek, feeling stunned, knowing from the intensity of his tone that he meant every word that he was saying. "How?" Lily asked quietly. "How did you know that you love me? Couldn't it be, I don't know…passing lust?"

"Passing lust?" James' laugh was ugly. "Passing lust is wanting to shag someone just to see how shaggable they are. Passing lust is _nothing _to being in love."

"So all those girls you've been with are passing lust," Lily deadpanned, turning her face away from him.

James was quiet for a moment, his hands caressing her back absently, nearly making Lily lose track of the conversation. Pushing his hands didn't really deter him though, so Lily tried to ignore it, and succeeded enough to focus on James' next words. "When you obviously didn't return my feelings, I thought that maybe I had been wrong, so I started to go through the rest of the Hogwarts female population in the hope that I would find someone I could love that would reciprocate those feelings for me." James snorted quietly. "But that never happened. It was always you I thought about…"

"Really?" Lily's hopeful tone of voice seemed to be working without written permission from her brain, but at the moment, Lily didn't really care.

"Really," James said, pulling back from her and smiling warmly at her. Lily smiled shyly back at him, as his mouth gently touched hers, her arms wrapping possessively around his neck. 

Lily tenderly disengaged her mouth from his and began kissing his neck, finding his sensitive spots, and enjoying his soft murmurs of delight, his hands moving over her body…

***

The three Marauders watched the dots labelled "Lily" and "James," so close that they were literally on top of each other; identical Cheshire Cat grins in place. It seemed, for once, that Sirius' planless plan had worked.

***

****

Authors Notes: Thank you in advance to all reviewers. Please note that this is a one-shot ficlet. ~ Cheers, Starsong 


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